Search the Community

My father bought a Whites MXT Pro in 2010 for gold hunting. He used it a few times and then it set, for a longtime. He passed away recently. I got the detector out of the closet to hopefully use to find jewelry and relics. Unfortunately, a couple batteries were corroded, which I cleaned up. However, when my husband went to clean up the piece inside the box, outside the battery box broke off. Sorry, I don’t know all the proper terms. My question is, should I invest in a new box, if one can be had, or sell it and get something newer? There is an elliptical DD coil as well. Is there a good fix for this issue? Many thanks for your assistance.

I got an email inquiry and wanted to share my reply here….. Hello Steve, What's your thoughts on cold weather winter metal detecting, I'm thinking of trying it....... i.e. lowest temperatures for metal detector use, best metal detector for cold weather, etc..etc... Thank you There are no particular limitations around cold weather detecting other than your comfort, and target recovery. The last is why I stop detecting in winter. If snow is on the ground I can’t get to what I want to find, and even if not, the ground is frozen. Frozen dirt is like digging in asphalt. Some very dry desert areas are detectable in frozen conditions, but anyplace with moist ground you may as well just forget it. You can detect snow, like recent drops in playgrounds under equipment, or ski/sledding slopes. Jewelry would be the main goal for those doing that. A small pick or digging shovel works well as long as the device can chip/dig in snow compacted into ice. You don’t detect fresh loose snow, but well traveled packed snow areas. Any detector will work. Some LCD displays may grow dim or even blank in very cold weather, but no way to know which machines are prone to that short of trying them. So in general it would be best to be set to dig more by ear than eyeball. Use low temp batteries like Energizer Lithiums. Some newer models with built in NiMh batteries may get shorter run times due to cold batteries, so replaceable batteries would be more reliable. But not something I’d worry about too much initially. Personally after living a lifetime in Alaska I’m over cold weather, and simply choose to detect when it’s more comfortable. Hope this helps, Steve H The Cremation of Sam McGee by Robert W. Service There are strange things done in the midnight sun By the men who moil for gold; The Arctic trails have their secret tales That would make your blood run cold; The Northern Lights have seen queer sights, But the queerest they ever did see Was that night on the marge of Lake Lebarge I cremated Sam McGee. Now Sam McGee was from Tennessee, where the cotton blooms and blows. Why he left his home in the South to roam 'round the Pole, God only knows. He was always cold, but the land of gold seemed to hold him like a spell; Though he'd often say in his homely way that "he'd sooner live in hell." On a Christmas Day we were mushing our way over the Dawson trail. Talk of your cold! through the parka's fold it stabbed like a driven nail. If our eyes we'd close, then the lashes froze till sometimes we couldn't see; It wasn't much fun, but the only one to whimper was Sam MCGee. And that very night, as we lay packed tight in our robes beneath the snow, And the dogs were fed, and the stars o'erhead were dancing heel and toe, He turned to me, and "Cap," says he, "I'll cash in this trip, I guess; And if I do, I'm asking you that you won't refuse my last request." Well, he seemed so low that I couldn't say no; then he says with a sort of moan: "It's the cursed cold, and it's got right hold till I'm chilled clean through to the bone. Yet 'tain't being dead--it's my awful dread of the icy grave that pains; So I want you to swear that, foul or fair, you'll cremate my last remains." A pal's last need is a thing to heed, so I swore I would not fail; And we started on at the streak of dawn; but God! he looked ghastly pale. He crouched on the sleigh, and he raved all day of his home in Tennessee; And before nightfall a corpse was all that was left of Sam McGee. There wasn't a breath in that land of death, and I hurried, horror-driven With a corpse half hid that I couldn't get rid, because of a promise given' It was lashed to the sleigh, and it seemed to say: "You may tax your brawn and brains, But you promised true, and it's up to you to cremate these last remains." Now a promise made is a debt unpaid, and the trail has its own stern code. In the days to come, though my lips were dumb, in my heart how I cursed that load. In the long, long night, by the lone firelight, while the huskies, round in a ring, Howled out their woes to the homeless snows-- O God! how I loathed the thing. And every day that quiet clay seemed to heavy and heavier grow; And on I went, though the dogs were spent and the grub was getting low; The trail was bad, and I felt half mad, but I swore I would not give in; And I'd often sing to the hateful thing, and it harkened with a grin. Till I came to the marge of Lake Lebarge, and a derelict there lay; It was jammed in the ice, but I saw in a trice it was called the "Alice May." And I looked at it, and I thought a bit, and I looked at my frozen chum; Then "Here," said I, with a sudden cry, "is my cre-ma-tor-eum." Some planks I tore from the cabin floor, and I lit the boiler fire; Some coal I found that was lying around, and I heaped the fuel higher; The flames just soared, and the furnace roared--such a blaze you seldom see; And I burrowed a hole in the glowing coal, and I stuffed in Sam McGee. Then I made a hike, for I didn't like to hear him sizzle so; And the heavens scowled, and the huskies howled, and the wind began to blow It was icy cold, but the hot sweat rolled down my cheeks, and I don't know why; And the greasy smoke in an inky cloak went streaking down the sky. I do not know how long in the snow I wrestled with grisly fear; But the stars came out and they danced about ere again I ventured near; I was sick with dread, but I bravely said: "I'll just take peep inside. I guess he's cooked, and it's time I looked";. . . then the door I opened wide. And there sat Sam, looking cool and calm, in the heart of the furnace roar; And he wore a smile you could see a mile, and he said: "Please close that door. It's fine in here, but I greatly fear you'll let in the cold and storm-- Since I left Plumtree, down in Tennessee, it's the first time I've been warm." There are strange things done in the midnight sun By the men who moil for gold; The Arctic trails have their secret tales That would make your blood run cold; The Northern Lights have seen queer sights, But the queerest they ever did see Was that night on the marge of Lake Lebarge I cremated Sam McGee.

This post is for @Lodge Scent, and anyone else who still has time to do some relic hunting. Traditionally I have used a highly modified relic program that has scored some incredible stuff for the last few years, those who follow me know what I'm writing here 😏 Lodge is thinking of updating to V3.02, and I thought, "well hell, I'm retired and can go out there right now for a bit!" I grabbed the trusty D2 with the 13", my Ranger Shovel and MI-6, and went outside across the cul de sac to a field that is mowed but not planted, I'm getting a new neighbor eventually. He gave me permission to continue saving all the history until he grasses it in. It's where I first found lots of buttons and cut pistareens. I've been out there many times, also grid searched it heavily with my old Equinox 600 and the Deus a bit. Again I noticed I could turn up Sensitivity to 95, 97 was a bit more bump prone, but I only got small blips as I scrubbed the coil through the stiff cover crop stalks. I was fine with that, if it was making no noise at all I'd have to keep checking it with my shovel. 😅 My Relic program under V2 was really tight, I almost never dug any iron. Not so with V3.02 🫤 It wasn't bad but I did get some falsing stuff: Particularly the curved piece top left, it insisted on being a 75 until I dug it out, then it disappeared, and then only ID'd as an 04. 😵 I switched from High Square to PWM and back again, and it seemed much better. 🤔 Got rid of the issue. Again, this is a Beta version, and should be thought of as such. I have no idea why that happened, wish I had something to tell XP. I did switch between my beach program and relic to verify some iron, so that might be what caused it. Aluminum was again a pain, but I found I hadn't put Audio Filter at 5 so I did that and at least the large aluminum gave me brassy tones after that. Under this version my MI-6 doesn't always make a sound in the headphones when it comes on, so that's something too. 🤔 Anyway I got two good finds in 2 hours: A brass saddle pin the Hoover Boys call a "Throckmorton" 😏 because of its suggestive shape, I have found 2 of these here but this one is complete. It still has the clamping pins. The other find shocked the heck out of me, I got an 85 with an iron tone, after the first dig it settled down to an 82 and stayed there with no iron tone: Yet another cut pistareen, the "II" denoting a 2 Real is clearly visible. No date, but the reverse has detail too: This version seems buggy, but I'm sure they will get it straight, so I'd say if you know your Deus you could upgrade, but be prepared to have the changes to the changes cause a little bit of trouble. 🍀

As promised I got out yesterday to a much larger beach than the first one I went to. This is a pebbly, heavy sand beach with a mix of white sand, pebble sand, clay, and other stuff, it's kind of a mess but there is no mineralization in most places, or the D2 is kind enough to ignore it. I've hit dimes here at a foot deep, both silver and clad. I used the Deus with the new software and the 13" coil, here is what I observed and felt, the good and then the questionable: First, the primary and most important thing to me is how much more silent the D2 is until you are over a target. I used to use 93 Sensitivity, now I can push it past 95 without much noise at Audio Response 7! Instead of lowering sensitivity, I lower Audio Response to 6 or 5 if I encounter any chatter. As you'll see in my finds, there are some that have been there for a long time, and man did I have to dig. It is very stable now even at high sensitivity. Turning sensitivity up equalled more targets. There are some spurious blips as I had with the previous version, but either I'm better at ignoring them or they are fewer. 🤔 Second, the audio is markedly louder, I'm sure there were complaints about audio using the backphones with crashing surf, this is a river beach so it's not all that bad. I used to run it at 8 or 9, but found 7 was fine. Pinpointing "seems" more accurate, but I still had some location issues. I tried the negative Silencer, but still prefer 0 for now. Negative numbers brought more falsing. I also tried setting Discrimination at 4, as recommended by the air testers but 0 is much preferable. Too many cutouts, many targets here have iron around them or are encased in a conglomerate, I need to hear both. The iron response "seems" to have improved. I didn't dig any. The RC cut out on me 3 times with my 9" coil but it didn't at all with the 13", it lost connection. Either there is something wrong with my 9", or it doesn't play well with it. Come on HF2! 😅 Now for the bad, aluminum. 🫤 This beach is loaded with shot through ragged beer can slaw, and pull tabs from every century back to the Revolution. 🙄 I pushed audio filter to 5 to give aluminum a "brassy" tone, it worked for most of it but with this version all you can do is lift and pray. Better to dig. Those damn aluminum chair rivets are now a beautiful tone with an ID in the 80s. 😵 Most pull tabs are up in the 70s, wrong way, XP! Can slaw is in the 50s. Pure tones. Lead is still lead, 60's to 80's, you're going to have to dig it all. Here's the trash, way more than I used to dig: Guess I have some training to do. Here are the finds: Notice how nasty some of the coins are, they were insanely deep. This machine is easily on par with any comparable VLF, that's for sure, and is now as quiet. I know because I have the competition. It "feels like" some of the IDs have been moved. 🤔 Some in the wrong direction. I also noticed far fewer low conductors, but it definitely did well with foil. Got a prize for all this hard work, you better dig those damn Zincolns, because this was an 82: A 33 gram (more than 1 ounce) 10k gold ring. Biggest gold I've ever found. At this point while I like testing this version and enjoy being among the first to do it in situ, I would not recommend you jump in unless you have a spare RC or WS6, some of this will change, and like V1, there may be radical changes. I have 2 remotes, so I don't worry. I can always run the tried and true. Hey @TampaBayBrad, I did it! 🤣 🍀

I have just a few questions for Steve. I'm "tuning up" for the Summer. While re-reading your advice, especially "Minelab GPX 4000-5000 Manuals & Timings Charts", I was not certain what you ment by "Interference". Do you mean radio interference or maybe ground mineralization interference? In a recent post you advised tuning "as high" possible without getting too many false targets. I'm sure most people know what you meant by "high", but I'm still struggling to come to grips with timings etc. Explain please. Thanks, and good luck this Summer.

Hey everyone, Been detecting for the past two years in Victoria and currently own a 6000. I’m happy with the 6000 but lately I’ve been thinking about possibly picking up a second hand 4500 or 5000 and learning that machine (possibly modding it) as I want to try and locate the deeper nuggets and avoid digging lead shot. Just curious if anyone else has done the same before or have they just stuck to the one detector? Look forward to hearing peoples opinions and experiences. Thanks.

Getting into gold prospecting and need to purchase a metal detector that will pick up small pieces / pickers of gold. I'm kinda on a mid range budget 3 - 400 dollar range, any suggestions on which models to consider? Thanks John

Ground around here recently is pretty frozen solid right now. Having your metal detecting season cut short will do strange things to a person... I purchased an expensive top-of-the-line detector to spend a couple of days with re-hunting fields I previously searched 14 years exclusively... With detectors costing nearly four times less. It's like competing with yourself to see if anything is left and to prove if more money really does it any better. The new detector was very well made, powerfully capable and even had a feature that impressed me greatly, but could it "out find" my relatively inexpensive companion of the last 5 years? Oddly, it lacked some of the comfortable attributes and ergonomics that you get to know and depend on in the field. If we could find the perfect detector for all of us, would we stop buying metal detectors? First day out with the new detector was quite fruitful, despite aggressive wind, slightly frozen ground, and repetitive snow squalls. I had to literally stand on my spade to punch through the first inch of "grass covered frozen chocolate" to reach softer dirt. I searched only areas were I know I spent a lot of time on in the past, just in case the weather got worse and finally put a real end to my season. First target registered at 8" deep with iron indications coinciding in the display... It was a thin, slightly domed and oxidized flat button with a backmark indicating British origin, possibly 1800-1810. Next target, only a few feet away, was a broken brass spoon tip at about the same depth and TID indication. "Wow, how did I miss these?" was now playing endlessly in my head. Next I moved to a place of high EMI levels that would test the boast of greater EMI suppression advertising. The detector automatically quieted the interference for me, but I had to reduce the receiver sensitivity to get even more quiet operation. My third target came to light as an 1847 Braided Hair Large Cent around 6" deep. Seemed like I was on fire with new finds! Not long after that a .69 cal. fired musket ball was extracted. In fairness to previous outings, this was an area I barely wanted to bother with using my low cost SMF detector in the beginning. I had too many other productive, easier places to hunt first and test the newer technology. The next, and final target of the day, was located in the partial shade of leafless trees. Bang! Another signal right away indicating "66" at 8" down, now shaking my head in disbelief! Again I stood on my spade, but this time I nearly fell over as the steel wouldn't pierce the ground here. I had to literally hammer the frozen ground with my spade. Just under the surface I could see a 1" tree root, if I didn't need things more delightful! Right then it started to snow and all I could think about was how this area produced some nice early Indian Heads in the past... Could it be one more I missed?... I had pounded this area in nice weather! I was genuinely frustrated that I had to leave a promising target in the ground and wait for the proof I was after. Yet, I thought what a great chance for my older detector to prove itself, so I would return when it warmed up a bit. A few days later I got that chance and I couldn't stand the childish suspense any longer. This time I came prepared with a big rubber mallet and a sharp old wood-handled chisel. You're probably thinking, "Why the rubber hubcap hammer?" If I accidentally missed the wood chisel, I had a greater chance of not seeing my hand fracture in little pieces... It was indeed that cold. 🙂 Good thing was I made a mental note of the approximate spot beside two of the many trees. Though now the ground was covered with fresh snow. If "old faithful" couldn't respond to the target, it would be a win for the expensive detector and I would never know what was at the bottom of the hole until Spring! Swoosh! Through the snow the searchcoil went as I frantically scanned the area... I'm not hearing it! Only little iron grunts! Then it announced itself loudly, with a translated TID of "79-80" on my "old pal", yet still reading 8" deep. I pinpointed double quick and my bare knees inside only jeans hit the frozen ground over the new snow. First order of business was a section of 1" diameter root, out it came easier than the frozen ground at least. I spent 20 minutes on my knees hammering and chiseling away little chunks of frozen dirt until the chisel struck something... Thinking, Oh no! I just destroyed a rare Indian Head or something more valuable!... The ground was frozen down to the target... Instead it was a newly creased 1961 Lincoln "MEMORIAL" cent! I paused, looked up and grinned as I "vibrated" from the cold wind. All I could hear in my mind from my "old pal" was... "See, you doubted me, now I get the last laugh!" 🙂 It was a little tough getting back up afterwards! All that to teach me a little lesson... Coming back another warmer day with my older SMF detector to the same EMI torture, I was able to switch to a selected single frequency with a modified channel. It actually ran quieter than the new detector, but with no new finds being made with either detector. In reality, yes, the new detector made good finds in heavily hunted areas, but it did so over unusually flattened vegetative conditions at depths both detectors are capable of. The older detector made even greater finds in the past to its credit. So why did I spend the money? It allowed me to test something I've never had the time nor funds previously to do... Do you really get all you pay for with respect to a higher price? That day made me realize I already have the perfect detector for me... Lightweight, simple to navigate, well-built, highly visible display without eyeglasses in bright sunlight, control buttons I can feel and operate with thicker gloves on, reliable warm wireless headphones with a wireless pinpointer, and deep ground performance in the soil I call home... Good enough for the type of metal detecting I love to do... Being thankful for what I already have.

All, I have a use case for a metal detector that doesn't involve treasure hunting like I suppose most of you do, but I am sure you have the expertise to be able to tell me how much of a metal detector I really need. I'm going to start core-aerating my lawn, and have some obstacles there that I don't want to damage. Namely an invisible dog fence (solid-copper single strand wire, rather thick gauge) and a signal cable going out to a weather station (a little thinner, but two strands). Both of them are just grown into the turf, but on top of the ground, so maybe an inch deep, if that, and not even covered by soil. So I thought that maybe I could locate the cables with a metal detector. I suppose I don't need any fancy discrimination modes or coils capable of finding stuff several feet deep underground. But how much detector do I really need? If the pinpoint accuracy lets me reliably detect the cables with an accuracy of a foot or so, that's all I need. As that's something I intend to do once a year only, I obviously don't want to break the bank. It's probably easy to overspend on a device that offers way more than I actually need. So I'd probably want to stick with a reputable manufacturer (Minelab/Nokta?) but go low-end on one of theirs. So is, say, a GO-FIND 11 going to do the job? Or do I need something along the lines of a low-end Vanquish, a 340? Yes, I'm aware that cable finders exist, but those require access to the cable for the signal injector, which is a bit difficult and nothing I'd want to do every year. Thanks!

Hi everyone, I'm interested in learning more about the UIG Watch Detector. I've heard it's a unique device, but I haven't been able to find much information about it. Has anyone here used the UIG Watch Detector before? If so, I'd love to hear about your experiences with it. What are its pros and cons? How does it compare to other metal detectors on the market? Any information you can provide would be greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance

Hey y'all, Quick confession, I wrote the title to get attention, I have read articles following the progress of this detector since its announcement, and merely haven't seen much new discussion, so I'm just looking for any new thoughts from the more experienced users on the forum! I have no need for anyone to bash it. If anyone will do that in the future it will be me. 🙂 I just bought a Manticore with the M11 and M9 coils. Got it used but the M9 and ML105 headphones were unused, and the M11 not much at all. I had to update it and the headphones, I had no problem at all. It was a great deal, and since my wife told me to do it, I didn't ask twice. 😎 Fortunately it popped up just when I was getting antsy about the price increase. Since it shipped I ordered some specific accessories: A white coil cover/bumper (I may get a green one, forgot about white sand) that encompasses the whole coil; And a keypad cover that reflects my personal style, but more importantly, along with the coil cover makes it easy to say "Hey, that's MY damn Manticore!" I also ordered a SteveG fiberglass lower simply because I've noticed some small improvement over CF with my other detector, so logically I want to hit the ground running. Add to that a WM09 rig to use other headphones. The reason I bought this machine is to not only have the compliment to my other detector, the venerable D2, but to really ensure I'm not missing out on anything. I plan to use it both on the beach and in the fields. My first "real" detector was an Equinox 600, and after the incredibly quick and simple updates, headphone pairing, and some indoor antics, I immediately came to the conclusion that this is a major improvement over the Equinox series, it's almost like every annoying characteristic of the great but time-worn predecessor is gone. Bravo, Minelab. 👏 In two short weeks I'm off to Florida to do some East Coast detecting with some forum friends, and I've already contacted at least one experienced member for some area-specific settings. I've already read this great post that was done a year ago: And I have to say that while it's spot on and loaded with great advice, something must have changed in a year... 🤔 I plan to do some hunting in my closest relic sites using vanilla All terrain General before I go, but sadly we've just been hit with a polar cold snap and the ground is frozen as it was exactly a year ago when I made a video of my Predator Ranger shovel bouncing off the ground. Wish I could post it. I'll be stuck inside for the next few days until the 1/2" of snow we got last night disappears and the ground thaws out, so to keep from extreme detecting withdrawal I'm asking for any wisdom this forum can impart. Thanks in advance! 🍀

With all the new affordable detectors coming out i can't help wondering if my modest arsenal is hopelessly outdated and i could just get a '1 (or 2 ) size fits all detector' I Have; testoro tejon tesoro eldorado umax CZ7 etrac. The tesoro's have been doing well for me when i visit the Netherlands, and the cz and etrac been doing fine in the local parks here in Norcal, but hey, perhaps we're now living in a time where there's affordable detectors that pretty much cover relic, park, heavy mineralization and heavy iron just fine? Thanks for your input 🙂

Well it’s here and probably here to stay so people need to understand and live with its abilities. Not only is AI great at programming and writing, it has become advanced enough to find locations by matching landscape photos that people post online to Google Earth images and others, and with fairly good accuracy. This does not depend on the GPS tag location information that is also stored on your smartphone photos, it is actually an image search and analysis of the horizon features shown in the photo that it is doing. I am into Geography and GIS, and use a publicly available locating program to help with my wife’s historical archaeology work to find locations where old photos were taken (it only works if there hasn’t been too much development of the area in the meantime) and it has been fairly accurate. Anyways, just a heads up if you like to post landscape photos online but also want to keep your locations safe, as it is no longer just those people who are familiar with an area that can recognize where your landscape photos were taken, AI can now do it for for anyone almost as well as long as there’s a horizon shown with some features in the skyline (mountains and valleys and other unique items in the skyline).

Thanks GC for posting your reverse signal find with a GPX-6000 as it desired me to share a video for some of the newer swingers out there. The majority of gold 98% of what I have recovered in my 30 yrs of chasing the heavy metal...with Minelab PI detectors and including the GPZ-7000, usually have the normal "Wee-You" or High to Low signal response. This is great knowledge to know as in many locations, the Low to High response is trash and or ground mineral noise. Walking away from those signals has saved me so much time and energy and actually put more gold in my pouch. I have said it before, that I prefer to play the odds and I usually do better when playing the odds than many others who I hunt with. Now on occasion and in areas of thicker chunky gold and or larger gold, I do have to make adjustments and so I dig more trash and more ground minerals (false signals). Now at Rye Patch area, the majority of my digs are not trash. Heck I find very little trash at all and if I were to dig 10 times, it would result in 8 nuggets. But I know RP well and I also know certain areas of RP that has a much greater amount of ground mineralization. Those tricky broad reverse signals could possibly be a bigger chunk at depth? Here's a hint for those folks who encounter such site with that occasional False Signal. Do a quick Timing Adjust and most of the time the so called iffy signals will go away. When I first learned of the reverse signal in the 90's, I was in Easter Oregon with a customer, had found a chunky 2/3rd oz solid nugget. He and I were so pissed of that the target was reverse, we thought something was wrong with our detectors. I even called Minelab USA back then and they had no clue what I was talking about. They reached out to Australia who then informed me of such. So we learned. This old video I did shows the odd and rare gold "Reverse Signal". Then I use a nickel to show the standard proper "Gold Response" so many of us are used to. Just curious how many DP members have found the rare Reverse Signal and it turned out to me GOLD. Would love to see some of your Success pics. Who could only imagine what that 1 pounder is worth in today's $2700+ range. Then add the collectors value and it could purchase a new rig.

I asked ChatGPT to create a flow chart to help me decide whether to dig a target or not. I have been using a Minelab GPX 4500 for 2 years or so and feel that I have not learned much. I need a way to organize my thinking and experiences so I don’t forget them. I want something that I can revise and extend as my experience grows. We all know that we won’t agree, but this is a good way to start thinking about it. Please make comments and suggestions whether you agree or not. The more, the better. It is pretty simple, but here it is: Decision-Making Flowchart for Metal Detecting Using a PI Machine Part 1: Searching for Shallow Gold 1. Signal Detected - Proceed to analyze the signal. 2. Signal Type - High-Pitch to Low-Pitch (Falling Tone): Likely non-ferrous target; proceed to the next step. - Low-Pitch to High-Pitch (Rising Tone): Often ferrous or trash; proceed cautiously (exceptions exist). 3. Signal Sharpness - Sharp and Clear Signal: Indicates a solid, shallow target; likely worth digging. - Broad or Fuzzy Signal: Likely trash or an irregular object; consider skipping unless in a high-potential area. 4. Signal Consistency - Stable Across Swings: Strong indicator of a desirable target; dig. - Inconsistent or Changes with Angle: Likely trash or irregular material; consider skipping. 5. Final Decision - If the signal is high-pitch to low-pitch, sharp, and stable: Dig the target. - Otherwise: Ignore or move on. --- Part 2: Searching for Large, Deep Gold 1. Signal Detected - Proceed to analyze the signal. 2. Signal Type - High-Pitch to Low-Pitch (Falling Tone): Often non-ferrous target; proceed to the next step. - Low-Pitch to High-Pitch (Rising Tone): Can indicate large, deep ferrous targets or irregular trash; proceed cautiously. 3. Signal Strength - Weak Signal: Likely deep or small target; worth further investigation in areas with high gold potential. - Strong Signal: Likely shallow trash or a large target near the surface; evaluate carefully. 4. Signal Sharpness - Broad Signal: Common for deep, large objects; worth digging in high-potential areas. - Sharp Signal: Rare for deep targets but possible for compact, high-conductivity objects. 5. Ground Balance Check - Ensure proper ground balancing to rule out mineralization noise. 6. Signal Consistency - Stable Across Swings: Likely a desirable target; dig. - Inconsistent or Changes with Angle: Possibly trash or mineralization; consider skipping. 7. Final Decision - If the signal is weak, broad, stable, and persists after ground balancing: Dig the target. - Otherwise: Ignore or move on. --- Additional Notes: - Iron Falsing: Rusty iron may produce good signals; use "wiggle" techniques to confirm. - Digging Questionable Signals: In areas with known gold deposits, err on the side of digging. - Practice: Regularly practice identifying targets by sound and digging to refine skills and improve judgment. This decision-making framework can guide your efforts and improve efficiency while detecting for gold in various conditions.

Been a long time since I posted anything here, I love my Equinox 600 but haven't had anything interesting happen lately until today. I was going through Amazon deals and came across this: https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B0C6LWNNF6 They're light, extremely comfortable, and inexpensive at the moment. They have a microphone but you can swing it out of the way. It isn't removable. They paired with the APTX-LL B+ sign on the Nox right out of the box, I did a factory reset to wipe out the previous headphones I was using, and then pushed the Wi-Fi/Bluetooth button, waited for the Wi-Fi icon to disappear. Then I turned on the headphones and hung them on the detector and walked away. When I came back they were paired. ? They're not all that loud even with the detector at full volume and the bone phones at full, but the point is they work, for a minimum investment of $49. I generally hunt fields so the volume isn't much of a problem, YMMV. Good luck, and happy hunting!

Retirement is probably a non-realistic option for most, in reality it's more like work till you die. But for those of you that can move to your dream prospecting area, where would you consider moving too??? I used to live hours away from my nearest mining camps which were located in Eastern Oregon and Southern Idaho, I was able to plan a few trips during the six months that they had road access due to the winter snows, in the end I realized Montana/Colorado/Northeastern Oregon/Alaska/Idaho/Wyoming/High Sierra's were probably not a good place to retire and be able to get out very often detecting, duck hunting was maybe more fit for these locations. These area's do have very remote areas that are spectacular to explore during the fair weather months and have very little people to worry about running into. I decided to try living in Winnemucca, Nevada which was probably a dream location for detecting especially in the late 90's. The changes that happened there were the big mining companies open pit mined a lot of the historical mining areas and the easy road access allowed the rest of the mining camps to get flogged with prospecting detectors. So Arizona has the opposite affect of the northern states, December is wonderful, but the summer heat is brutal, thankfully its not for six months and you can hunt in the mornings. This area has a mix of remote places and some flogged areas nearer to the snow bird camping areas. Definitely a place to consider for retirement detecting. California, hmm!!! why would you move to California, is this not the place where you make your fortune and leave as soon as possible? The southern area is surely overcrowded and has mostly private lands. The Motherload's Sierra foothills have a pretty good year around climate ideal for detecting, a lot less people to contend with and a huge amount of mining districts. The downside is lots of private ownership until you get farther into the higher Sierras', then your dealing with the winter snows as mentioned before. Northern California??? So far this place has a little of everything desirable for a retired detectorist. Lots of mining history, lots of open public lands, considerably less population, year round outdoor weather conditions (close by mountains for in the summer and the valley for when it's colder outside. Remember colder in the northern Sacramento valley is 40 degrees, not even cold if you have lived up north. I took a trip to southern New Mexico and went to Silver City and some other historical mining districts there, absolutely a beautiful place to explore. It also includes a lot of the qualities of northern California. I have not been to NZ, WA or other places like that. Maybe someone from there could better describe the places they have found there dream detecting place. Or maybe they do not want to attract attention to it, which makes good sense to keep it a secret.

Greetings! I have a Minelab GP 3500 that needs diagnosed and repaired. I cannot find anyone here in the USA that repairs these older models. Is there anyone in Australia or elsewhere that would do the repairs if I ship them the unit? Thank you!!

Has anyone seen that Ali Express offers major detectors from Minelab, Nokta & Garrett? You wonder how they can pull that off?

G'day all, I'm new to the prospecting scene, just bought a GPX 5000, was after some helpful advice and tips on the best settings.

I just came back from a campground trip that has a lot of electronic signals and energy both in the air and in the ground. In a few places the EMI is so bad that even single frequency struggles, but I have a proven simple way to minimize that. You will lose a little depth but you will still come away with a lot of finds, especially because other detectors do not have this capability. The Deus 2 really amazes me with its capability the more I use it, and I use it a lot. I've got to the point that I almost don't have to look at the screen. The Deus 2 has a setting called Audio Response, it's available in most or all programs, and has a setting from 1 to 7. It is primarily used to estimate depth via the strength of the audio signal in the headphones. I typically use two Deus 2 programs depending on where I am, Relic and Beach Sensitive. Usually when I am using Relic I do not have to adjust for EMI because I'm in a farm field with no EMI or power lines, and I run Audio Response at 7. My reason for this is to make even the smallest target at depth sound off. The same applies to Beach Sensitive, but the presence of salt water, Wi-Fi, or power lines may cause me to reduce the setting to compensate. If you hear EMI at all, try reducing Audio Response first before reducing other settings. I can run sensitivity at 92-94 with AR turned down to 3 in heavy EMI, and still dig good targets at 6-8" or deeper. What happens in my opinion is that the EMI is a weaker signal, and gets pushed to a very tolerable level, while the closer signal from the target is preferred. Using this has brought me many finds that others have missed. My favorites with AR at 7 are small coins like dimes that I can find at 12" or more, and very small buttons. If you read my posts, many coins are dark or green from being deep in the ground for a long time. It is great to have the ability to find even more by varying this setting! It is the first one I adjust. 🍀

Hello. This is for anyone who is interested in designing and printing their own things such as spare parts or accessories and has no experience with it. For my part, I wanted to have a second Whites battery compartment for Li-ion batteries and I quickly created it with free software and gave the created STL-file to a friend of my daughter to print, and the printing worked straight away. There are some software manufacturers that advertise free 3D CAD software, but I have only found one that can really be used without restrictions. and that is freecad. freecad is also available across platforms for Linux, MAC and Windows. There are also countless tutorials on the Internet that will teach you how to use freecad, in writing and as videos. People who have experience with 3D printing know that the printer requires slicer software, usually already included with the printer. But there are free alternatives here too. The next goal on my agenda is a budget 3D printer. I hope this post helps some people solve their problems and realize their ideas. All The Best

What are some basic tips and settings for detecting in mineralized soil and or water? I'm mainly looking for gold, small nuggets in this case, and silver. Yesterday I took it down to a creek and I felt like I couldn't get it set right. The sand/gravel has quite a bit of fine flour gold and a lot of black sand. I was getting constant dings at 11. 14-18 and 60 were common too. In a lot of places it signaled, but only while in the water so it feels like my gb is off or something. What can I do to help this? Just turn the sensitivity down? I dug some to check, but nothing. I tried wet sand setting and the signals started going to 60 and some at 43. Im not sure if I know how to balance it correctly. Will the detector pick up things not directly under the coil in water? I was using the smaller 6 inch coil. Any tips are appreciated, I'm fairly new at this. Thanks

I have a Minelab Excalibur II that needs TLC as well as a Tesoro Sand Shark. I am having trouble deciding what I should do with each. I feel for the price of getting the Excalibur fixed, I could buy one of the newer machines for about the same costs and have a warranty. The Sand Shark is a PI machine that seems to short out when in use.

Anyone who reads my posts recently saw a floating sifter I got for beach hunting, and thank you all for the suggestions regarding making it better. I took the advice of one of the people that responded, sent it back, and got the one I really wanted, the great but expensive Tube Tubb: This thing is big, kinda heavy (around 3 pounds), and expect to pay around $200 for it, but it's made in the USA, has no metal in it at all, and has a really thick fiber sifter with 3/8" holes. It can take a big scoop of rocks and silt and will not flip over just like the other one, but it's way more well made. It's 31" long by 16" wide. I got mine from Serious Detecting, but it's pretty much available from many metal detecting specialty companies online. My next problem was how to carry it. 😬 One thing I noticed with the other one was that because it's huge and the grab handles are thick, you have to carry it by hand or attached to a lanyard and it bangs all over the place during portage, not to mention keeping one of your hands occupied. I've seen the Hoover Boys using one but they just toss it in a boat, I have to walk to the beach from the parking lot. 😵 I searched Amazon for various backpack rigs and came upon this one: https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B08372G1VX Again it's kinda pricey ($68) but it's the only thing I could conceptualize holding this sifter. 🤔 Man was I surprised when it got here. It's a bit fiddly to adjust at first, but it's extremely well made and worth every penny, the perfect backpack carrier for the Tube Tubb. Pop the two button locked Bianchi clips and you're ready to go, you can keep the backpack unit on your back while in the water. 🥳 It has comfortable and easily adjustable shoulder straps and a cross strap as well. It also has a cushioned pad with two zipper pockets. Now with both hands free to carry my detector and scoop, I should be all set for some serious water hunting this fall at my rocky, pebbly beach. I will revisit this post when I have used this rig.